News & Events

Slice/Silence film update

The Slice/Silence film was premiered in Sydney this week! The film is now live on YouTube.

At the premiere I gave a talk about the project, and we held a discussion panel with Scarlett Franks, Emma Tseris and Linda Steele.

The cushions were shared in a little installation and it was great to see folks exploring and holding them again.

 

Giant gratitude to the Big Anxiety team for hosting this event and supporting me to come to Sydney, and to Scar, Emma and Linda for joining me to explore self-injury, silencing, the violence and neglect of health systems, and the need for alternative supports.

 

Black and white photo of a cushion on a chair. It's been cut in hald, stuffing spilling out, but twoi elastics hold it loosely together. Stitched words on the cushion say: the parts of me I couldn't keep. A cropped cushion in the foreground has the word 'no' stitched inot it, under a clear plastic dressing.

Slice/Silence... The movie is coming!

This short film about the beginnings of Slice/Silence will premiere in Sydney, Tuesday 10 October, at a special UNSW event, including:

  • Talk by the artist (Indigo Daya) about the project
  • Panel discussion with Indigo Daya and special guests: Scarlett Franks, Survivor Academic, and Emma Tseris, Senior Lecturer, both from the University of Sydney
  • A witnessing installation of the cushions (9-13 Oct)

Bookings

Read more & register for this free event here

About

Presented by: The Big Anxiety Research Centre

Produced by: The amazing Steph at Article One

Following the premiere, the film will be available on YouTube and via this website.

Film festivals

The Slice/Silence short film is an Official Selection at the following film festivals:

IMage of INdigo Daya holding a cut and stitched cushion. Slice/Silence logo. Subtitle: Cutting through the silencing of self-injury, trauam and injustice. Stitching emancipation together. A survivor led project.

Slice/Silence is now continuuing as part of my PhD

I’ve been accepted into a PhD program at the University of NSW, in the School of Art and Design!

So many people have connected deeply with this project, so it’s a joy to know that I can continue  to explore and deepen this work with other survivors over the next 3-4 years.

It was important to me to continue this work outside of traditional ‘mental health’ paradigms, where I can be confident of being supported in a non-carceral, non-pathologising approach. Being in an arts faculty is perfect for this.

Through Slice/Silence, my PhD will explore how emancipatory peer support can partner with creative arts and resistence, as a form of transformative justice for survivors, and as a genuine, hopefully ongoing, alternative to carceral psychiatric systems.

In Slice/Silence, unlike in mental health services, there is no intent to try and stop people from using self-injury. Instead, we recognise that this is a meaningful experience in the context of trauma and injustice, especially when we have been silenced and shamed. Here, we can listen more deeply, and explore our experiences and the meanings behind them, together.

A mini Slice/Silence pilot in Sydney

The Slice/Silence project was piloted again in March 2023, with almost 50 people in Sydney, at a Big Anxiety Research Centre course exploring trauma and the arts.

We learned that even in this brief setting, many people shared in big ways, and spoke of the value of being able to explore self-injury, trauma and injustice with the cushions, in a peer-led community setting.

This time, we noticed the importance of witnessing in the Slice/Silence space.

On the second day of training, the cushions were installed in a witnessing space, and people were invited to read and hold the cushions, and to offer reflections back to those who had cut and stitched and tattooed their stories into them.

Cartoon drawing of two cushions with cuts on them. A voice bubble from one to the other says "I see you"
Handwritten text says: Thank you. I feel amazed by the way this process let me see and say how I feel and sharing it made me see how very much so many people feel like me.
Handwritten text says: "I see your sharp, jagged messy pain in these soft inviting cushions. The tenderness takes me to a place of self-soothing. The stitches in the fabric. The stitches in skin. The cuts, the disruption - all expressions, all beautiful.
Cushion with cuts. Sticthes over the cuts spell out the words "believe me". A needle is left in the fabric. Stuffing seeps out a little.

Slice/Silence at The Big Anxiety Festival 2022

Slice/Silence launched as a two-day interactive arts project at The Big Anxiety Festival Forum on 6-7 October in Naarm/Melbourne.

Guests were invited to sit with the cushions, hold them, injure them, stitch them, bandage them, destroy them, tattoo them… whatever they wanted.

Conversation circles were held where we talked about the things that are normally silenced about self-injury, trauma and injustice.

It was a moving and precious two days, with big stories shared, many of which had not been spoken before.

Together, we showed that alternative spaces are possible, where we can let go of oppressive mental health practices that focus on risk, pathologising and coercion rather than compassion, creativity and social justice. We survivors can create healing spaces for each other. 

Slice/silence will be manifesting again soon… stay tuned for news.

 

Video of the installation space (Instagram)